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Combat Zone Envy - Make a Micro Climate | |
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GardenGuides Newsletter
April 25, 2006
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Garden Guides Blog
Tools for Rose Care
[www.bhg.com]
1. Stock your garden shed with a long-handled spade, a
garden fork, and a cultivator. Keep plant markers, a
dethorner, and a sprayer handy, too. Have buckets for carry-
ing fertilizer as well as cut flowers. Wear boots, gloves,
and a hat to protect yourself as you work in the garden.
2. Protect your skin by wearing a pair of heavy-duty gloves.
Gauntlet-style gloves extend past the wrist and cover part
of your arm. Those made from leather or another impenetrable
material allow you to dethorn the roses you cut for arrange-
ments by sliding your gloved fingers down the stems.
3. Use twine to tie rose canes as you train them to grow on
fences, arbors, and obelisks. In late fall, wrap twine
around long canes to keep them from blowing and breaking in
winter winds. Also use it to secure burlap wraps on tree
roses. Twine deteriorates eventually and needs to be
replaced.
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Combat Zone Envy - Make a Micro Climate
By Carol Wallace
No matter where a gardener lives they always seem to think
that people in other climate zones are better off that they
are. Those people in cold climates envy the lush tropical
plants that warm climate gardeners can grow so easily, while
those in warm climates wash nostalgic about the lilacs and
tulips they used to grow back up north. We somehow manage to
live through these disappointments with fair good humor. The
zone envy that really turns us green is that of the people
one climate zone different that we are - so near, yet so far
away.
That one zone difference can be a killer. We go to the
nursery and see the most gorgeous plants - love at first
sight. We know exactly where it would look wonderful in our
yard. And then we check the care tag.
Instant gloom. It's hardy in the next country - but not in
my yard. At least that's what most of us believe. I'm not so
easily convinced. For one thing, I have gambled several times
on plants that were supposedly a bit tender for my area and
had them survive with flying colors. Often the plant really
IS hardy in my climate zone - but not enough people have
tried it and reported success with it to convince the
experts.
That's what happened with my first hellebore. I had seen
them in Europe, blooming on Christmas day. I HAD to have one.
Back then they were not easy to find, but finally I saw one
in the Winterthur catalog. Sadly, it was listed as being
hardy only to zone 7. But I just HAD to have it.
My local nursery owner told me that I might possibly succeed
with it if I planted it near the house, which would give it
some shelter and also provide it with a little extra warmth
from the house. I followed his advice - and now, ten years
later that hellebore is a fine, strong plant that is bloom-
ing as I type this.
I guess a lot of other colder-climate people were as fool-
hardy as I was. The next thing I know that Helleborus niger
was being rated as hardy to zone 4. All those cold climate
gardeners who were growing it without problem can't be
wrong.
So if you see a plant that you really want, you can always
gamble that the experts haven't really tested the limits of
its cold hardiness. That's one way to help cure some cases
of zone envy.
Others are not so easily overcome. Some plants that are
rated as hardy to zone 7 really aren't hardy in zone 6. But
that doesn't mean that you can't grow them. It simply means
you need to seek out a microclimate on your property and
situate the plant there.
What is a microclimate?
Basically it's an area that because of its situation in the
landscape may be warmer or colder than the rest of the
property. When the nursery man told me to situate my
hellebore near the house he was recommended a site near the
house's foundation because it is a microclimate - an area
likely to be warmer and more sheltered from freezing wind
than more open areas of the property.
If you understand the theory behind creating a microclimate
then you can often cheat and grow plants that are normally
tender in your zone. You may even be able to grow those
plants that need a tad more chilling than your climate
naturally provides.
Four conditions that can help you to create a microclimate
in your yard:
temperatures
patterns of light
humidity distribution and
air circulation
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I'll explain a bit about each of these and give some suggest-
ions as to how you can take advantage of them to extend the
range of plants you can grow. Let the neighbors have zone
envy - let them be envious of you!
Temperature
We know this about the outdoor temperatures, but all too
rarely think about what it means in terms of the plants we
can grow. The key fact is that when the thermometer says
it's 90 degrees outside it is 90 degrees at the thermometer.
But that doesn't mean that it is 90 degrees everywhere in
the yard. Take that thermometer over to a shady spot and see
what it says. Shady spots almost invariably have lower
temperatures.
We also know that hot air rises - but usually only think
about that in terms of indoor heat and balloons. But it is
also true outdoors. If your land slopes, like mine does,
then if you carried that thermometer around the yard you
would discover that the higher the rise the warmer the
temperature. In the dips and valleys temperatures are
slightly cooler.
The lesson here is clear - the more tender the plant the
higher it needs to be and the more sun or reflected heat it
needs. Put it in a dip in the land - probably a frost pocket
- and you are sending it to its doom.
Patterns of light
The temperature, and thus the microclimate, is also affected
by the amount of sunlight an area receives. Areas that get
little or no sun tend to be cooler than those that receive
a great deal of sun. Many factors can affect the amount of
sun an area receives, including the following.
houses
walls
fences
trees
other plants
even where you park your car
Shady areas are not only consistently cooler than their
well-lit counterparts - they tend to hold moisture for longer
periods of time.
Some of these elements create different amounts of shade
seasonally. Trees lose their leaves and suddenly an area
gets more light than it did in summer. This is why we can
plant spring bulbs in a tree-shaded spot - they bloom before
the trees leaf out.
In winter the shadows are longer and the days are shorter
because the angle of the sun is lower (about 30 degrees)
than in summer when it is at the higher angle of about 75
degrees.
What all of this means is that we are able to draw some
conclusions when we take these factors into account, such
as that slopes that face south or southwest are warmer than
those facing north or northeast. This is because they will
receive the sun most directly - but they stay warm because,
as we saw above, heat rises while the cooler air literally
slides down the slope and settles at the lowest point.
Walls that run to the east or west reflect heat and light
toward their south sides, which means that they create shade
on their north sides. The side with the most light is the
warmer side. In my own garden I have an old stone wall with
remnants of whitewash that reflects the sunlight and heat
in summer. It actually got too hot for the simplicity roses
I had planted there. Across the way the facing bed has no
stone wall - and the same plants look happier.
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A south-facing stone wall that absorbs the heat and light of
the sun during the day and then slowly release it at night.
If this same area is protected from winds it can actually be
a microclimate as much as 8 to 10 degrees higher than in
other spots in your yard!
Conversely plants that languish in the too hot summer can
survive happily in a shadier place with more humidity and
slightly damper soil.
You can manipulate the amount of light and heat a wall may
create somewhat with the colors that you use on them.
Remember that white reflects heat back at the plants while
black absorbs the heat. If you don't believe me, try wearing
one black and one white sock outside in summer and tell me
which one gets hottest.
One way to create a cool microclimate for summer is to put
shade trees on the southern side of your property. This will
lower the amount of heat we get from the sun. If you want
more heat then make sure there are no trees, buildings, etc.
between your heat-loving plants and the sun.
Also, the more paved area you have - especially with light-
colored paving - the more heat it will reflect. Reducing the
paving and adding more grass or more plants will help reduce
the temperature.
Humidity distribution
Water also affects the amount of heat or cold in an area. I
remember being flabbergasted when I discovered that Anchorage,
Alaska had weather as warm or warmer than my Pennsylvania
garden. Or that Boston, which is north of me also was a zone
warmer. The difference is partially due to the presence of
huge bodies of water nearby - oceans, in these cases. But
even a small pond can affect the temperature of a portion of
the garden to some degree, The pond or lake sends moisture
out into the air. That water vapor acts a bit like a mini-
ature greenhouse effect as it traps the infrared radiation
reflected from the earth.
As long as there is vapor in the air then, we are getting
those reflected infrared rays. SO air that takes on moisture
from your pond is literally trapping heat.. So plants near
your pond will enjoy some extra humidity during the day -
and if you get out that thermometer again you may find that
during the day the temperatures there are warmer. This
explains why I am able to grow calla lilies (allegedly not
hardy in my area) next to my big pond without digging them
up in the fall. They stay in the ground year round and
flower faithfully each summer with no protection except
their pondside home.
Plants themselves also release humidity in the air. In your
garden you can take advantage of that by putting drought
tolerant plants at the edge of a grouping and those that
need a higher humidity in the center of the bed. That way
the plants that need more moisture will benefit from that
released by the more drought tolerant plants that surround
it.
Air Circulation Remember what I said earlier about hot air
rising. The reverse is also true - cold air sinks. Look
around your yard early one autumn or spring morning and see
which areas have frost on the lawn. They are probably all
the depressions in the land. Our yard isn't level anywhere,
so it's easy to see that wherever the ground slopes down we
have frost - whereas the high points are quite clear. So
the lesson is clear - plants that need heat belong on higher
ground than those that prefer cold.
Wind is another factor that affects the microclimate. Plants
that are sheltered from winter winds survive better than
those that are right out there getting the brunt of them.
So slightly tender plants need as much wind protection as
possible.
Put trees or shrubs in areas that get high winds if you need
to create an area that is safe for tender plants. I am grow-
ing bamboo that is allegedly only marginally hardy in zone
7 and it is quite happy in my zone 6 garden. . I am growing
it between a stone wall and a hedge of tall evergreen trees
- and it is planted at what is the highest elevation on my
property. It flourishes for me because of the protection
from wind as well as the heat and light reflected from the
stone wall.
Pay attention to these factors and you can probably find
little safe spots in your yard that will let you grow those
plants that you used to envy in your neighbor's yard.
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dancer at the party?
Question of the Week
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